American Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This study reviewed democracy and dictatorship in post - colonial Africa with a critique on prospects for good governance. Democracy strives when there is a competitive election and political parties freely sponsor candidates for election. This process appears to be in disarray in Africa. The study adopted secondary data and content analysis as methods of data collection and analysis and the Elites theory as the theoretical framework. The study observed that due to greed and inordinate ambition to sit-tight in office, some the post – colonial leaders involved in the liberation of their countries from independence jettison multi – party system in favour of a one party system or adopted militarilism as a fashion for the administration of their states. The study recommends amongst others that there should be institutional reforms that guarantee accountability and transparency in governance as a key antidote to good governance.